Cheddar Climbing

Abit of a late post, but hey.

So after arranging to climb with Chris on the Sunday, we headed to Avon Gorge...only to find that the gorge was shut due to rock safety checks. So my Avon climbing experience will have to wait for another day. Instead we headed to Cheddar for some Autumn sport climbing.

Fall falls and man love

Chris on 'Outward bound' HVS 4c

A posting on the Taunton climbers facebook page was all it took to begin, what was quite possibly, one of my best cragging days. The cold October morning started with a gathering of four adventurous climbers in a Taunton car park, with the joint decision that Chudleigh will be our desired destination. However, upon arrival, the crag was still running with water from the previous days rain. Wet limestone + polished limestone = No climbing. So we took off and headed for the moorland crags of Haytor, with the hope that Mr Sunshine and Mrs Wind would have dried the crag. Thankfully, they had....well, the south faces anyway.

Like a Bullock in a china shop

"Sometimes I think of the mountains as a brutal place and I can't be the only one who feels that way. Yet mountains are not brutal. Death and injury, trauma and distress do occur there. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can cost you. Sometimes it's because of a mistake, a wrong decision, or just bad luck. Sometimes ego and ambition get in the way. Accidents happen. But a mountain has no soul. It's never the fault of the mountains."

LOST: Virginity

A swift phone call to my climbing partner, Mark Stevenson on Friday night ended with the destination set: Swanage. I've never climbed on sea cliffs before, so naturally, I was a little nervous. I'd become so attached to the shy little quarry of Fairy Cave, knowing what i was and wasn't capable of climbing, I was worried that the sea cliffs of Swanage would dissolve my ego, built by the many slab routes of the quiet, tranquil quarry, and watch as they wash away into the English channel...

The first of many...

I've decided to start this blog, not only to incite those who may be the slightest bit interested, but also to log my adventures, memories and to remind myself in the future that there is a limit...which has yet to be discovered.